diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/cluster.go b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/cluster.go
index de8d618c8da8..550fa7c8f3d1 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/cluster.go
@@ -2164,6 +2164,9 @@ func (c *clusterImpl) RefetchCertsFromNode(ctx context.Context, node int) error
 	}
 	// Need to prevent world readable files or lib/pq will complain.
 	return filepath.Walk(c.localCertsDir, func(path string, info fs.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		if err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "walking localCertsDir failed")
+		}
 		if info.IsDir() {
 			return nil
 		}